Grilled Avocado … Like Foie Gras!

Avocados don’t often meet heat in the kitchen. They’re usually used raw—whether mashed in guacamole or sliced or diced for sandwiches or salads—appreciated for their creamy, unctuous texture. But throw them over the coals on your grill, and that texture takes on a whole new character, says lebelage: Grill slabs of nice, ripe avocado rubbed with oil for a few minutes, and they crisp up on the outside and become molten on the inside—a contrast similar to seared foie gras. Grilling avocados brings out a nutty flavor you don’t get when they’re raw, notes kittychow.

Old Spice grills skewers of avocado, cherry tomatoes, and chicken marinated in a cumin-lime vinaigrette, passing more vinaigrette at the table for drizzling. He also makes a salsa of grilled chunks of avocado and pineapple mixed with minced jalapeño, a bit of olive or grapeseed oil, and lime juice and zest, which is wonderful with grilled scallops or fish.

mpd grills avocado halves and fills them with tomato salsa as a first course.